Has Anyone Dealt With PAECO??

[jtsarnak]

I was wondering if anyone here has dealt with PAECO performance? I was tipped off to them by a post in the FAQ and I ordered their catalog and they seem to have a really broad selection of quality stuff for the KA: exhausts, headers, flywheels, cams, pistons, etc. Completely assembled engines rated at 232 hp NA go for $5000 (and they offer 20% off if ordered in the fall/winter months, so that's $4000). I was thinking about going this route as opposed to swapping only because I like the idea of NA power over a Turbo and I'd like to be able to use my engine daily without worrying about finding parts or passing inspections, etc. So if anyone has any experience with them, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.

[s1390rcr]

232 hp NA. Is that a KA24E?

[Boehm]

If that is at the flywheel hp it's not that impressive. Translates to about 185 wheel hp. Build it yourself for less than that.$1800 Gude head$400 Hot$hot header$350 Firdanza Flywheel$150 ASP pulley$600 Jim Wolf ECU$200 Any Intake$500 A decent exahust$4k of do it yourself power, and I'll bet it's on par with the PAECO.But no first hand experence...just analysis

[s1390rcr]

well, im getting ready to spend 3k on a new ka24e inculding install. think i should go with paeco or mod myself?

[TrunkMonkey]

If that is at the flywheel hp it's not that impressive. Translates to about 185 wheel hp. Build it yourself for less than that.

the KA doesn't suffer from that much drivetrain loss. at 232hp at the flywheel, you're looking at very close to (if not) 200hp at the wheels. and to get that high your going to need to raise your compression which means new pistons. might as well do a complete rebuild which averages around $2K if you have someone else do it.

btw, there's no way i'd spend $1800 with gude. they are VERY shady. their products have proven to NOT produce the outputs they claim.

-demetrius

[C-Kwik]

If that is at the flywheel hp it's not that impressive. Translates to about 185 wheel hp. Build it yourself for less than that.$1800 Gude head$400 Hot$hot header$350 Firdanza Flywheel$150 ASP pulley$600 Jim Wolf ECU$200 Any Intake$500 A decent exahust$4k of do it yourself power, and I'll bet it's on par with the PAECO.But no first hand experence...just analysis

You put way too much credit for just adding parts and expecting a lot of HP. I would be looking into some long-length Equal length headers to extract that kind of power. Tri-Y header designs are a compromise for for true race cars as they focus more on a broad torque curve, where the 4-1 headers will be more focused on a specific RPM range. Couple this with cams that work well in the same RPM range and you can get some serious power for an NA set-up. Especially as you increase the RPM where all this occurs. And don't think that throuwing Greddy headers on will do the trick. It uses a short runner set-up and and will have very little effect on the RPM's where you will be spending the most time. The right combination can actually net you a max VE of over 100% within a small range of RPMs. And if you really want to get trick, use very short intake stacks using an individual Throttle body set-up with it. Longer intake pipes tend to put the resonance tuning in lower RPMs. And all this stuff is not anything I know to have been tested or researched on the KA24DE AFAIK. So if you decided to go this route, you'ld either have to be able to test all airflow and know how to interpret all the numbers, to engineer the best specs, or you'll need a lot of trial and error.

[jtsarnak]

I know I could probably do it myself for less, but I also don't have the tools necessary to do so. Plus PAECO warranties their stuff if they build it gfor you (you can buy the engine as a kit from them for less, but you don't get a warranty since they didn't assemble it).

I'm guessing the 232 would be at the flywheel, but that would still be impressive power. That's at least as good as a stock sr20, plus you get a brand new, fully balanced, custom built engine that will probably last forever if taken care of normally. Plus it's street legal. Plus you don't need to find foreign parts should you need anyting. Plus there's better response since it's NA. They check every part, replace or re-machine anything that isn't up to their higher standards, complete blue-printing, balancing, full head work, high compression pistons, new rods, etc. etc. Basically bulletproof.

But that still doesn't answer my original question: Has anyone ever dealt with them?

[TrunkMonkey]

Has anyone ever dealt with them?

no. unfortunately, people hate to be the first to test out new vendors. since there's a warranty, why don't you stick your head in the guill...i mean...err...give them a try.

-demetrius

[Syntax360]

haha demetrius! 232 N/A *and* street legal? hmmm...if there's emission testing in your area, that doesn't seem quite right(?).

[TrunkMonkey]

i'm pretty sure everything on that site is intended for off road use.

street legal? may pass a visual test.

pass emissions? probably not.

-demetrius